Natural Beekeeping Courses For Gardeners

How to Keep Bees Course

Course length: 4 weeks

Next start dates: 2nd September 2015 & 7th October 2015

Course price: £120 (Approx. US$192)

Hello. My name is Philip Chandler. This four-part online beekeeping course is an introduction to what has become known as ‘natural beekeeping’, which differs in some important respects from the conventional approach to this subject. Our focus will be on keeping bees for their own sake, rather than simply for the products of their labour. Of course, we also appreciate what they do for us and if there is a surplus of honey, we will be pleased to have some for ourselves.

If you are already a keen gardener, you may have considered the idea of having a beehive or two in your garden, but been put off by the cost and complications of conventional beekeeping equipment. In this course, I will show you how keeping bees can be much easier than some would have you believe, while costing much less than you think – especially if you can do simple woodwork yourself.

Beekeeping has recently become popular again, after many years in decline. A significant part of this resurgence has been generated by a growing interest in the idea of ‘natural beekeeping’, which puts the emphasis on keeping bees for their own sake, rather than merely as a means for honey production.

How to Keep Bees?

Much of the impetus for this new form of beekeeping came from the publication in 2007 of The Barefoot Beekeeper, now in its third edition. This book set out to challenge the 150-year domination of beekeeping by commercial considerations, and asked people to look again at their relationship with the honeybee with nature – rather than profit – in mind.

This course is presented by Philip Chandler, author of The Barefoot Beekeeper, who now spends most of his time teaching and writing about natural beekeeping.

Learning Outcome By the end of this course, you will have a greater understanding of the role of bees in their natural world and in the context of human agriculture. You will understand the design, construction and use of a Top Bar Hive, and have a theoretical knowledge of the lifecycle of honeybees and the ways in which we can supervise and nurture them on a small scale.

A revolutionary course about sustainable, chemical-free, ‘natural’ beekeeping, with no heavy lifting. The tutor strips away all complications, showing how you can make everything you need yourself, using recycled materials and simple tools

Below is a teaser video – giving you a taste of lectures to come on the course

Course Content

Lesson 1 Before considering 'keeping' bees, we take a look at their world, their lifecycle and how we can work with them to achieve a mutually beneficial relationship.

Lesson 2We consider the relationship between bees and flowering plants and their importance for pollination. We will also look at the type of beehives recommended for 'natural beekeeping', and consider ways in which you can take sensible precautions when locating hives and handling bees.

Lesson 3We will examine how a top bar beehive works, and how best to use it to supervise bees, while minimizing our interference in their lives. We will also consider how to obtain bees and persuade them to live in the hives we provide them.

Lesson 4Having introduced bees to their new home, we look at hive management and how to provide optimum conditions in which they can thrive, while learning as much as possible about their natural behaviour with a view to improving our understanding of them.

Note to StudentsLearning about beekeeping from books or distance learning can give us a broad understanding of their nature and behaviour, but of course there is a need to deepen that theoretical knowledge by practical, hands-on bee-handling.

Many local beekeepers' associations provide open sessions for beginners to experience bees at first hand, and may also provide training courses. These tend to focus on the conventional, commercially-derived approach to beekeeping, and while attitudes are beginning to change in some places, you are unlikely to find a great deal of sympathy for top bar hives or natural beekeeping.

The course tutor runs day and weekend courses throughout the summer, and students are invited to attend one of these events if possible. You will find such events listed at www.biobees.com

Online Course Benefits

Weekly 1-2-1 tuition and feedback from, and access to, some of the best tutors in the world.

Weekly video tutorials, allowing you to revisit lectures again and again.

Weekly assignments which are critiqued by your expert tutor - most students find this feedback one of the most valuable aspects of the course

Magazine style downloadable transcript (your own four part ebook of the course)

All this is done within 'MyClassRoom' - your own virtual, community based global classroom

Vibrant social network communities

At the end of your course, if you successfully complete your course, you will receive a certificate of completion and an online badge (available to download from your classroom)

To understand more about how it all works, go to the 'How it Works' section!

Requirements

Booking a Place

MyGardenSchool Gardening Courses Start on the First Saturday of Every Month.You can book your course up to two months in advance

Your tutor will make their video lectures available to you each Saturday morning for four weeks, and will support you throughout the course. Book now to secure a place!

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Student Testimonials

I have really enjoyed the MyGardenSchool online course on Clematis and Climbers with Pip Bensley - I learnt so much in four weeks.
The assignments were fun to do and Pip's input brilliant. My garden is now up for a total makeover. To this end I have signed for two courses this month.
Many thanks again Pip.
Janet.

Janet Marsden IngramWest Sussex, UK

Shrubs Course:
I really enjoyed your course on and I learned a lot about shrubs and I developed a bunch of inspirations for the coming garden season. I absolutely could recommend this course and the Online Gardening School as a whole.

AngelikaLuxembourg

Growing cut flowers. Many thanks Charlie for making my first gardening course so stimulating and enjoyable and thanks to my classmates for their advice and comments.

Liz RichardsonWales

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Natural Beekeeping Course

Probably the best beekeeping course in the world. This innovative online beekeeping course helps you understand more about the bees, why the bees are endangered, and how to build a garden for bees. Phil is an experienced author and lecturer worldwide, having advised many top horticulturaists worldwide and made many TV appearances on natural beekeeping.